The Gate
by Krystiana
Summary: Co-Authored by Kristafori. The Phoenix breaks loose from the Gate, ripping Krissie and her Brooklyn into my dimension.


by Kristafori {i.d.wilson@top.monad.net} and Krystiana  
{krystiana@geocities.com}  
  
[Krissie] {Krystiana}  
  
A note from Krystiana:  
{I have now idea how long this took to write. Oh, well. Gargoyles belong to  
Disney/Buena Vista, not us. Don't try to sue me, sue Krissie! [HEY!] You just  
might want to read my other stories (Music Says It All, To Live Again,  
Parts I & II, Echoes of the Future.) Also wrote something named  
"Temptation, which is not even in this universe. Krissie?}  
  
A note from Kristafori:  
[Ok, my turn!! Gargoyles are the property of Bueana Vista and Disney. All terms, names,  
concepts, themes, ect. ect. used in Mage: the Ascension and Vampire: the Masquerade are  
property of White Wolf gaming studios. All the songs I quoted are property of the artist  
and owners. All the above named are not mine, I didn't make them up. But the rest of it  
is all mine, mine you hear me MINE!! I would read The Third Cycle (my first fanfic)  
before going any further because if you don't be lost. I apologize for the amount of  
prerequisite reading suggested but, oh well. This story takes place about two weeks  
before Blessed Reunion of Souls.]  
  
**********************************  
previously on gargoyles...  
  
[Echoes of the Future]  
Demona: She's our daughter.  
Brooklyn: OUR daughter?  
  
[Music Says It All]  
Brooklyn: DO you remember the coven?  
Demona: Yes.  
  
Leader: We have certain...talents that others do not.  
Good enough? I might think of something else sooner or later. But probably  
not. These are the only important things I can think of right now.  
  
[The Third Cycle]  
Krissie: I sort of have this thing for guys with long white hair.  
  
WARNING!!!!!!! ADULT LANGUAGE  
  
*******************  
  
The Gate  
by Kristafori and Krystiana{Slinky}  
  
__________  
  
Darkness.  
It's all around me, haunting me, teasing me, torturing me.  
That foolish gargoyle banished me to what he thought was an eternal pit of  
hell. I can see all time, alter it to suit my needs.   
The gargoyle-what was his name? Goliath, that's it. Goliath, the fool.   
All because of a dream a Child of Oberon gave him, _I_ was banished here,  
without any choice, without any reason. He didn't realize the truth, though.   
I can break free from this realm of darkness, the realm of shadows.   
I can be free of the darkness and that Gate that Oberon imprisoned me in.   
I can be free once more.  
I can live again.  
The Phoenix shall rise again!  
  
* * *  
  
"Brooklyn?"   
"Mmm?" Brooklyn said, not bothering to look up from the book he was reading.  
"Goliath told me to tell you that you're in charge," Angela said. "He's  
going away for a few days."  
Brooklyn looked up and raised an eye ridge. "What for?"  
Angela smirked. "Something with Elisa."  
Brooklyn rolled his eyes and went back to his book. Angela, still grinning,  
walked out of the library.  
"Brooklyn?"   
"What?"   
"Have you seen Angela?" Broadway asked, straining his neck to see what  
Brooklyn was reading.  
"Yeah. She just left, don't know where to," Brooklyn said, growling at  
being interrupted from reading.  
"Oh. Thanks anyway." Broadway sighed and left.  
"Brooklyn?"  
"What?" Brooklyn said, growling.  
"Did you put my computer disks anywhere?" Lexington said, ignoring  
Brooklyn's frustration.  
"No, I never touch your stupid techno crap."  
Lexington scoffed. "Well, gee, thanks," he said sarcastically. He turned  
and stalked out of the library.  
"Brooklyn?"  
"NOW WHAT?!" Brooklyn yelled, jumping up. He looked around the library.   
There was no one there, at least who he could see.  
"I'm here," came a familiar voice from behind him. Demona came out of the  
shadows, wings cloaked around her shoulders, head down.  
"Demona?" Brooklyn asked, as if he wasn't really sure it was she or not.  
"No, Pope John Paul," Demona said, rolling her eyes. Brooklyn blinked and  
grinned, surprised at Demona making a joke, or at least an attempt to.  
"So...what are you doing here?"   
"Do you know what today is?"  
"Yeah, the summer solstice." Brooklyn looked down.  
  
Demona held something out to him. It was a metal pendant of the moon, with  
a familiar shape carved into the moon. It was the same shape as Demona's  
golden tiara. The sign of the Early Hatcher's.  
  
"I had these made especially for us," Demona said as Brooklyn took the  
pendant and studied it.  
"What for?" he asked, holding it up to the dull light.  
"We should remain as loyal as we can to them, in my opinion at least,"  
Demona said, holding up her own pendant, identical to his own.  
"Tonight was the most sacred night for us," Brooklyn said. "Because  
tomorrow the nights will start getting longer."  
"Yes."  
"Last solstice I was still too mad at you," Brooklyn said, sighing.  
"I know," Demona said, looking down as well.  
Brooklyn looked at the pendant once more, then pulled it over his head and  
around his neck. Demona watched him.  
"Is that wise?" What if the clan asks questions?"  
"Let them ask," Brooklyn said calmly. The pendant wasn't very big, about  
the size of a quarter, but it made him look older, wiser. Demona could only smile  
weakly.  
  
* * *  
  
"Mother?"  
Demona turned sharply, spotting Angela. "Yes, my daughter?"  
"What are you doing here, Demona?" Goliath came out of the shadows.   
"I...I came to..."  
"Yes?"  
"To tell you I've considered rejoining the clan," Demona said, looking  
down, almost shyly.  
Goliath looked at her with no expression on his face for a moment, then  
realized what she said. He noticed something that she had never had on  
before- a strange metal pendant. It was shaped into a moon with the shape  
of Demona's tiara carved into that. He shook his head and then frowned.  
  
"Of course, you know that this is only giving you a chance," he said.  
Demona nodded. "Stay out here while I discuss this with the rest of the  
clan." Goliath turned and left the turrets, motioning for Angela to follow.   
  
Demona turned and looked out into the city, sighing.   
  
* * *  
  
Krissie was zipping along at a usual high speed. Brooklyn was about ten  
feet behind her. They had been play tag for most of the night. Krissie was  
in a playful mood. They were in the village now and all the abandon  
buildings were zipping by under them. Krissie shot straight up and watched  
as her love flew right under her. Laughing she landed on the top of one of  
the buildings. Brooklyn, realizing that he was no longer in pursuit of  
anything, looped around and landed next to Krissie, who was perched on a  
railing that enclosed a small roof top garden.   
  
"Doesn't that make you dizzy?" Brooklyn said, wrapping a wing around her.  
"No," Krissie said simply and hugged her love. Brooklyn ran his fingers  
through her hair and sighed.  
"It's windy tonight," Brooklyn said, holding her. He was finally happy  
with life, with his love.  
"I know, and I'm not doing it. That's strange," said Krissie. A strong  
gust of wind came up and sent shivers down both their spines.  
"Something's not right." Krissie's body suddenly tensed up.  
"Kris, what is it?" Brooklyn said, looking in his love's eyes.  
"I don't know...like..." Krissie stuttered. "I just don't know."  
"Is your hand cramping up, too?" Brooklyn asked, flexing his right hand.  
  
A scream came from the small shed on the other side of the roof top garden.  
It sounded like a really big cat was getting it claws torn out but it was  
more shrill. As the scream ripped through their ears Krissie and Brooklyn  
saw a bright flare of yellow and orange come from the windows. After a  
minute there was only silence.   
  
"Well, that was weird," Krissie commented casually.  
"Let's go take a look and see," Brooklyn said, and started off toward the  
shed.  
  
* * *  
  
Inside the shed, there were pots of soil, some terra-cotta pots and a big  
blue shimmering thing. Brooklyn was immediately mesmerized by it. It was  
like the water's surface, rippling and moving. It was round and went from  
the floor to the ceiling. Brooklyn began to circle it.   
  
"It's so beautiful," he said, mouth open.  
"Brooklyn, do you remember what happened the last time you were mesmerized  
by something blue?" Krissie said, hands on hip. Fox had been giving her  
pointers. Brooklyn wasn't listening. He stuck his finger into the rippling  
surface. It did not comethrough the other side. Brooklyn smiled and stuck his hand in.   
He was instantly gone into thin air.   
  
"Brooklyn!" Krissie yelled half scared half XXXXed, "What the frick!" She  
passed back and forth for a minute then stopped and looked at what ever the  
hell was in front of her, "Brooklyn of Wyvern, you owe me!" Krissie yelled  
and jumped through.  
  
* * *  
  
Krissie landed with an OMF! then realized that she didn't go OMF. It was  
the soft fleshy thing she landed on.   
"Brooklyn, you goober!" she said, but Brooklyn didn't hear her. He was  
looking at the roof. There were no flowers and no shed.  
"Um, Kris," He said, "I don't think we're in the village anymore."  
A shadow caught their attention and they looked up to see the figure of a  
female gargoyle. A female gargoyle with red hair.  
"Uh oh," Brooklyn said, "Red haired bitch alert."  
Krissie growled and with a silent flap off her wings she was air born.  
  
* * *  
  
Demona spotted something grayish-blue out of the corner of her eye. She  
turned to see, but it was gone. She turned back to the outside...  
And came face to face with an angry looking female gargoyle. Demona took a  
few steps back, gasping.   
"Who are you?" she asked after she had regained her composure.   
"You know exactly who, Demona," the gargoyle snarled, eyes lighting up.   
But her eyes didn't light up the normal red, like female gargoyles eyes  
should. They lit up a terrifying greenish color, creating an interesting  
effect with her gray skin. Demona blinked and took another step back in shock.  
"I'm sorry, I don't know you," Demona said, unconsciously putting a hand on  
the metal pendant she was wearing.   
"I told you that if you ever came back I would kill you," the gargoyle  
snarled, and leapt at Demona.   
Demona was knocked backwards, thrown into the wall. She turned to the  
entrance of the castle and opened her mind.  
  
*BROOKLYN!!!*  
  
* * *  
  
Brooklyn looked up and towards the door to the turrets, squinting.   
The call came again. *BROOKLYN, HELP!* Brooklyn recognized it, and started  
to the door.  
"Brooklyn?" He turned to face Goliath, who was looking at him, along with  
the rest of the clan. "Where are you going?"  
Brooklyn didn't answer as another pain-filled call came. *BROOKLYN!* He ran  
out the door and looked around.  
He spotted Demona wrestling on the ground with another female gargoyle. The  
new one was winning by a long shot. She was on top of Demona, scrabbling to  
get a hold of her throat.   
Brooklyn growled and leapt at the new gargoyle. He knocked into her as she  
punched Demona one final time. Demona moaned and slipped into unconsciousness.   
"What the frick?" the gargoyle yelled. She turned and pushed her attacker  
off her and got a good look at him. It was Brooklyn, but it wasn't. It  
wasn't her child, the one in front of her had brown eyes. He wasn't  
elementalist. The blood drained from Krissie's face. "What the... Brooklyn?"   
"What the-" Brooklyn said. "Do I know you?"   
"What is this, what happened?" Krissie yelled. Her hands began to shake and  
she looked like a crack addict. "What the hell did I smoke? I didn't...  
anything... I would have remembered that, but what if I forgot? Why don't  
you know me?!?!"  
"Gee, I don't know," Brooklyn said sarcastically. "Perhaps it's because  
I'VE NEVER SEEN YOU BEFORE?!"   
"What do you mean?" she yelled back. Then a look of peace and shock at the  
same time was on her face. "I've lost my mind, it finally happened. I've  
snapped! I've gone completely bonkers!" Back at the door, the clan was  
watching with gaping mouths, which looked pretty funny on Goliath. "I know  
you know me!"  
"Says who?" Brooklyn yelled.  
"Says me," came a voice. To Brooklyn's surprise, somebody very familiar  
stepped out of the shadows.   
It was Brooklyn.   
Goliath's mouth dropped even farther than it already was. Krissie smiled  
when she saw that this Brooklyn was an elementalist, and had blue eyes.   
"Who the hell are you?" Brooklyn yelled at his twin, eyes flaring up.   
"I'm Brooklyn," the newcomer Brooklyn said dangerously.  
"Well, sorry, that position has already been filled," Brooklyn said.   
"Brooklyn!" The new female yelled and ran to him throwing her arms and  
wings around him.  
"It's ok, Kris," Brooklyn held her and stroked her hair, "You haven't lost  
your mind."  
Behind them, Angela had spotted Demona on the ground. "Mother!" she said,  
running up to her. Brooklyn looked down and the glow died away. He bent  
down and put an arm under Demona's neck, propping her up.   
Demona moaned and came to, finally. She saw Brooklyn first and smiled.   
It was then that Goliath saw the matching pendants they wore. He had  
noticed Demona's earlier, but not Brooklyn's. It seemed the one identical to Brooklyn had  
noticed as well. He was looking, no, glaring at them.   
Goliath shook his head and finally spoke up. "We will figure this out  
later. We need to tend to Demona's wounds."  
Krissie's mouth practically fell out of it's socket. "WHAT?!" she yelled.  
"You're helping the BITCH?"  
Brooklyn growled and picked up Demona. "Of course. She is part of out  
clan." He turned sharply and muttered, "And she is no bitch." He stalked  
into the castle with the weakened Demona, who seemed delighted just be  
there in his arms.  
Krissie and the identical Brooklyn turned to each other with a look of  
shock on their faces. Krissie just hugged her love and her love hugged her.  
  
* * *  
  
"Where the hell are we?" Krissie asked Brooklyn.  
"How the hell should I know?" Brooklyn replied.  
"Why did you have to go touch that stupid thing of yours?"  
"Of MINE?" Brooklyn yelled. "It was not MINE."  
"Why do you like the color blue so much anyway?" Krissie was getting scared  
and Brooklyn knew it. Krissie didn't know what was going on. All she knew  
was this was all wrong.  
"It'll be ok." Brooklyn was getting scared too.   
An exasperated sigh came from the sidelines. "Uh, excuse me for  
interrupting , but will you please come inside?" Angela said.   
Krissie sighed. "Sure, Ang."   
"-ela," Brooklyn finished, grinning. Angela glanced back at them with a  
strange look on her face.  
"What?" they asked innocently in unison. Angela rolled her eyes and walked  
into the castle.  
  
* * *  
  
*Brooklyn?*  
*You know, we should probably tell the clan about this.*  
*About...the Early Hatchers? But Brooklyn, the covenant-*  
*Is long gone. I know we made a promise and all that, but we can't keep  
this a secret.*  
*I know that.* Demona looked up at Brooklyn precariously. *But how would  
they take it?*  
*I really don't know. But that isn't important right now.* Brooklyn turned  
to see his double and Krissie coming in.  
Suddenly, Puck appeared in the middle of the room. He turned to Brooklyn  
and Demona. "Well, now, that was an interesting conversation-"  
"Shut up!" Brooklyn and Demona hissed at the same time. Puck rolled his  
eyes . He turned around and jumped.   
"YOW! Now, this is even more interesting!" He said to the other Brooklyn  
and Krissie. "Where did you come from?"  
"Antinoge, and Manhattan," Krissie answered. Puck squinted at Brooklyn,  
seeming to focus on something. His eyes widened for a moment.   
"Well, I know you don't belong here," Puck muttered. "For one thing, there  
shouldn't be two Brooklyns and one isn't supposed to be an elementalist."   
"We must have really XXXXed the balance if you're here," Krissie muttered  
under her breath to Puck.   
"What do you mean, elementalist?" Goliath said. "What is an elementalist?"  
"That is a long story, and as far as I know, I thought there were no more  
elementalists," Puck said, scratching his head.  
"Well, I know we don't belong here," Brooklyn's twin said. "I know I don't  
have a twin brother, I know that I still hate Demona, and that she is still  
a bitch." Brooklyn sat up and growled. Demona put a hand on his arm and  
pulled him back, although she also had an angry look on her face.  
"What I don't get is how we got here," Brooklyn's double said to Krissie.   
"It had something to do with that weird sound we heard before we found that  
funky-looking blue crap..."  
Puck immediately looked alert. "What blue crap?"  
Hearing Puck kind of swear made both the Brooklyns laugh. Puck glared at  
them both, and they stopped. An angry Puck was not a good thing.  
"It was this strange blue thing, a portal of some sort, because one moment  
we were in a shed and the next we were here," Krissie said.  
"What did it look like?"   
"Kind of like water, but kind of not," Brooklyn said.  
Puck's eyes widened. He actually looked worried about something.  
"What is it?" Goliath asked.  
"The Phoenix has escaped!" Puck yelled. "Goliath, you're going to be it's  
first target, and it's either going to kiss you or kill you."  
"What do you mean?" Angela said. "What did he do to the Phoenix?"  
"He imprisoned it, but when he did that it allowed it to escape from the  
Gate and then escape from where you put it."  
"Oberon will be number two on the list," Puck said, almost to himself. "But  
I can't get onto the island."   
"Just wait a fricking minute!" Krissie interrupted. "What Phoenix are you  
talking about? Like the Phoenix Gate?" Puck nodded.  
"And that's how you came here. You two are what you mortals would call a  
different dimension," Puck said. As looks of confusion came from several  
faces, he continued. "Another world similar to our own, but different in  
many ways. Like elementalists have survived in their world."  
"Hardly," Krissie pointed out. She glared at Demona and let her teeth grow  
out of her mouth.  
"You still haven't explained what that is," Goliath said, crossing his arms.  
"That isn't important right now!" Puck yelled, losing his cool. "Don't you  
get it? The Phoenix is more powerful that Oberon himself! It could destroy  
this world with a thought!"   
"Then why don't we put it back in the Gate?" Demona asked. Krissie and her  
Brooklyn looked at her with slight surprise.   
"We can't," Puck said. "It was probably destroyed when the Phoenix escaped  
from it."  
  
"THAT IS CORRECT, PUCK."  
  
Puck's eyes got even wider than they were before as a strange voice echoed  
throughout the room. In the middle, a ball a flame was starting to grow.   
They could only watch as it took shape. It formed a head, and what appeared  
to be two wings. It was done, and a bird made out of fire now stood in the  
center of the room.   
"Phoenix!" Puck said. "Um...so good to see you again..."  
"Flattery will get you no where, Puck." The voice sounded female, and the  
bird seemed to have a female impact on everyone. "You know what I am here  
for."   
"Are you the Phoenix?" Krissie asked.   
"I am."  
"Put me back!"  
Goliath looked at the bird, who was standing up straight. It looked like a  
raven forged from flames. "Why _are_ you here?"  
"Goliath, you helped me be free from the eternal bindings of the Gate, and  
for that I am grateful. But you did try to imprison me, like Oberon had  
with the Gate, and for that you shall pay."  
The bird opened it's beak wide and a terrifying hawk-like screech filled  
the air. The flame got wider and a bright light flashed throughout the  
room. When it faded, the Phoenix and Goliath were gone.  
  
  
"Hey, Brooklyn! Where's Goliath?" Brooklyn turned and looked at Elisa. "We  
were supposed to go upstate tonight."  
Brooklyn stayed halfway in the shadows so she wouldn't see his eyes.  
Krissie stayed all the way in the shadows.   
"Elisa, uh...I'm not exactly the Brooklyn you know..." he said, scratching  
his head.  
Elisa rolled her eyes. "What do you mean?"   
"He's the alternative Brooklyn, from a different dimension." Puck appeared  
in the middle of the room, with an apparently stuck look of worry on his  
face.   
"Huh?"   
"Never mind, I'll explain later," He turned to Brooklyn and Krissie, still  
hidden. "Oh, come out and show her," he said, annoyed.  
"Puck, you short excuse for a fey you better get that Phoenix back here  
because I WANT HOME!!!" Krissie shouted from the shadows.   
Brooklyn stepped all the way out of shadows, "Puck, this has been a most  
confusing night out, and if you don't mind I think it would be better if me  
and Kris just got back to our dimension because we're really upsetting the  
balance here."  
"What are you talking about?" Elisa said. "And I thought that Demona was  
going to come by. Have you seen her?"  
"That's right." Krissie stepped from the shadows, "Bitch doesn't remember  
me. This might just be a fun dimension after all!"   
  
* * *  
  
*This is so completely stupid!*  
Demona turned and looked at Brooklyn, who was glaring at his alternative  
self from across the room. They were all in the library, waiting for Puck  
to show up after "teaching" Alex how to communicate with Oberon.   
*Brooklyn?* Demona asked warily. *Something wrong?*  
"Oh, you might say that," Brooklyn growled out loud, ignoring the looks  
everyone gave him. Demona elbowed him.  
*Careful!* she warned him mentally.  
*I don't care anymore. With that...that _thing_ that looks like me...*  
Brooklyn looked back at his twin and growled. *He hates you beyond any  
reason. Krissie, too.*  
Demona blinked. *You didn't act so different for a long time,* she pointed  
out to him. Brooklyn looked at her and gave something like a mental sigh.  
*I know.* Brooklyn glanced back over at them. He noticed, for the millionth  
time, his other's self's blue eyes. *This gives a whole new meaning to the  
name, `blue-eyed monster.'*   
Demona laughed out loud, and then quickly slapped a hand over her mouth.  
She looked over at the rest of the clan and Krissie and her Brooklyn.   
"All right, that's it!" Krissie yelled, sitting up. "I've known you two for  
about three hours, and I noticed that you guys just anonymously say things  
sometimes, for no damn reason." She stopped and glared at them. "What the  
XXXX is it all about?"  
Demona bit her lip and turned back to Brooklyn. Hudson stepped forward.   
"They're right, lad, lassie," He said, crossing his arms. "We've been  
noticing it, too."  
Brooklyn looked around the room and sighed. *Now is a better time then ever.*  
*I know. We'll never get a better chance,* Demona said, touching Brooklyn's  
metal pendant that was resting against his chest. She turned around again  
to face the expectant clan. Brooklyn began.  
"Well, you remember what happened with Coldsteel...the second time around?"  
He said, avoiding everyone's eyes but Demona's.  
"No." Krissie crossed her arms, still holding a hard glare.  
Brooklyn rolled his eyes. "Well, to sum it up, Iago possessed my body  
_again._ I won't get into how, but he told everyone about..."  
Lexington was immediately alert. "Early Hatchers?" he said, not really  
asking, but reassuring himself.  
Brooklyn gave a faint look of surprise. "Yes...how did you - never mind."  
Demona continued. "Anyway, it was all true."  
Hudson gasped. "You mean, the Coven really existed?" Brooklyn nodded, head  
down. "Do you two realize that would be considered betraying the clan?"  
"WHY DO YOU THINK WE KEPT IT A SECRET?!" Brooklyn exploded. "Did  
you think we _wanted_ to be banished from the clan, like our ancestors were? For no  
good reason?"  
"It was a good reason!" Hudson insisted. "The Elders back then were wise.  
They would not make a mistake like that."  
"What, just because we were following our heritage?" Demona said, her eyes  
getting a red tint. "It was our nature, as much as it was to protect the  
castle."  
"Yes, well, you gave up that instinct pretty quick, didn't you?" Brooklyn's  
blue-eyed self spoke up, at last. Demona turned and glared at him.   
"You don't know how the humans treated me. No one ever did. They made me do  
terrible things, or else they would've killed Brooklyn and the others..."  
her voice trailed off with pain. She looked down as her eyes filled.  
Brooklyn put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but wore a look of  
puzzlement on his face.  
*You never told me about that,* he said mentally. Demona smiled up at him  
with tear-filled eyes.   
*It doesn't matter anymore.* She blinked and cleared her eyes.  
"But why do you suddenly say things aloud?" Broadway said. "That doesn't  
make sense."  
"Well...if we concentrate, we cam communicate telepathically," Brooklyn  
said, scratching his head. "All Early Hatchers can, if they're trained."  
"And if we combine our thoughts, we can communicate with outsiders," Demona  
added. She looked back at Brooklyn, who looked embarrassed.   
A thought echoed across the room. It sounded like both Brooklyn and  
Demona's voices, but in everyone's minds. *Like this.*  
Bronx whimpered and bent low to the ground. Demona bent down next to him  
and scratched him on his head. "It's all right, boy," she said reassuringly.  
Brooklyn gave an exasperated sigh. "Any other questions?" He sat back and  
leaned against the wall.   
"What else can Early Hatchers do?" Lexington asked.  
"Well, sorcery comes to us more naturally than others," Demona said. "It  
doesn't take as much training."   
"And we are really hard to lie to, plus we can do a few other things that  
aren't that impressive," Brooklyn said impatiently. "Where is that stupid  
fay, already? It's been an hour."  
"Oh, keep your loincloth on." Puck's voice came before he did. He appeared  
sitting on the chair with Alex in his arms. "That lesson took a while."  
"Did you get a hold of Oberon?" Krissie asked.  
"We have contact!" Puck yelled. Alex giggled and waved his hands around.  
"He's on his way. He needs to `tie up some loose ends.' Probably his nerves."  
"So we're just supposed to sit here while the Phoenix does God knows what  
to Goliath?" Elisa yelled. Puck sighed.  
"I suppose so," he said. Alex cooed at Puck as Brooklyn rolled his eyes.  
Puck looked over at Krissie and her companion. "He is going to need your  
help greatly," he said with a raised eyebrow.   
"Why?" Brooklyn's look-alike said.   
"Because that's how we got the Phoenix trapped last time. With a couple of  
elementalists' help."  
"But..."  
"No Buts. If you want to get back to your world, you have to help."  
Demona looked at Krissie and the blue-eyed Brooklyn. "We explained our  
secret, now tell us what an...what is that word again?"  
"Elementalist."  
"That is," Demona finished.  
"Why should I tell you?" Krissie hissed. "You are a b-"  
"For all you know, you could not exist in our world!" Brooklyn said. "She  
doesn't know you! This Demona isn't the same Demona as in your world! YOU  
DON'T KNOW HER!"  
Krissie still glowered at Demona, but she relaxed, a little.  
"Now will ye tell us what ye are?" Hudson said soothingly.  
"I am one of the last elementalists in my world, Brooklyn, my child is the  
other one." Krissie was getting frustrated. "Elementalists draw their power  
straight from the elements without a book or chants."  
"That's imposs - wait a minute...we learned about that!" Brooklyn said and  
looked at Demona for conformation. Demona just stared at the floor.  
"Except they weren't called elementalists. And it was still impossible to  
do draw it directly from the elements."  
"No, it's not," Demona said after a minute, "The Atlantians had that power,  
but then Atlantis sunk and it was lost. Oberon sank Atlantis, he killed  
the last elementalists because some started to rival his own power."  
"I was sired when I was very young, the only reason I survived is because  
of my brother," Krissie said and glared at Demona, "I went through your  
memories and you were there, you were in that church at the Antinoge cross  
roads!"  
*Brooklyn,* a voice that wasn't Demona's echoed in Brooklyn's head *Move  
now!* Brooklyn looked at his blue-eyed double who was gestering with his  
head for him to move.  
*No,* he answered telepathically.  
*Your funeral.* Brooklyn answered.  
Demona's jaw hit the floor and her eyes widened as Krissie's pendent flared  
blue. "You, you're," she stuttered and started to get up.  
"I am Krishana of Antinoge," Krissie yelled eyes flaring an ominous deep  
purple and snarling showing her teeth's full length. Her pendant glowed  
purple and a moment she looked like she was fringed with purple. During  
all this Krissie's Brooklyn was crouching down ready to pounce for  
something. Demona's Brooklyn was looking at Demona.  
*SHE'S Krishana?* he yelled mentally. Demona cringed and then looked at  
Krissie again.  
  
Krissie made a fist and pulled back, like she was throwing a ball. In a  
way she was. Forming around her fist a was ball of black and deep purple  
energy. Her fist came down and the wad of energy went flying towards  
Demona and her Brooklyn, who was still looking at Demona. As Krissie was  
throwing her ball the blue eyed Brooklyn sprang forward and tackled his  
twin, bringing him to the floor beside the couch he was sitting on.   
  
Demona was hit head on by the blast. The force knocked her back off the  
couch and onto the floor. She landed and didn't get up. The two Brooklyns  
were on the floor.   
"WOW!" Puck said with delight "Just what we need, a shadow mage!"  
Alex promptly threw up on Puck shoulder.  
"Get off of me!" Demona's Brooklyn shouted and pushed his twin off of him  
and ran to Demona's side. The blue eyed one rolled to the floor and slowly  
tried to get his feet.   
Brooklyn's whole body hurt, that last blast had upset the balance so much  
he couldn't see straight. Standing on shaking legs he saw his double  
standing over Demona shaking her. He turned to make sure Krissie was  
alright. She was kneeling on the floor, bent over with her hands on the  
floor. She was breathing in short gasps.   
"Kris?" he whispered, "You alright? You cast shadow."  
  
Krissie looked back at him, she pale as a ghost. She closed her eyes and  
shook her head from side to side. Then she got to her feet and half  
stumbled, half ran out of the room. The wrenching pain in his gut convinced  
him to sit down. Brooklyn walked over   
to the chair and fell into it.   
His twin was lifting Demona onto the couch. There was a big burn on her  
shoulder where she had been hit, she was dead.   
"Demona?" his twin kept saying as if she could hear him. "Demona?"  
"Save you breath," Brooklyn said doubled over in the chair, "She'll wake up  
soon enough."  
"If you don't mind me butting in," Puck said, annoyed, "But aren't you  
going to get that shadow mage back here?"  
"Are you kidding? I don't want to get my..." Brooklyn's voice tapered off,  
"Never mind."  
"Is she going to wake up?" Angela asked.  
"Yes, and believe me, she is going to have a worse headache then I have,"  
Brooklyn said in a calm and smooth voice.   
Puck cleared his throat. "The shadow mage," he reminded.  
"She isn't a shadow mage," Brooklyn corrected, "I'm guessing that she  
tapped into the power stored in her pendent and to cast that spell."  
"If that blast," the Brooklyn by Demona said seriously.   
"Were to hit me-"  
"You would be dead before dawn," Brooklyn with blue eyes answered.  
"I think I should apologize," the twin said seriously, "I haven't really  
given you a chance."  
"Hey, it's alright," Brooklyn said, "Just don't call me a blue- eyed  
monster anymore, okay?"  
The Brooklyn by Demona cringed and shut his eyes. He slowly opened one to  
look at his twin. "You heard that?" he asked, horrified. The blue-eyed  
Brooklyn nodded. Demona's Brooklyn smacked his forehead.  
Demona moaned and began to wake up. Brooklyn kneeled at her side. "Are you  
going to be alright?" he asked softly.  
"I think I will," Demona said weakly. Looking at the other Brooklyn in the  
chair. "I remember what happened to her."  
Both Brooklyns glanced at her, and then Demona continued. "I did kill her  
brother, and I did lock her in stone. I was followed by the Hunter and he  
found them... smashed them."  
Brooklyn sighed and nodded, "I haven't been able to go through Krissie's  
memories very well, she has a very strong mental wall on them. From what  
she has told me and what I was able to see, this is what happened in our  
world......  
  
* * *  
The dim candle light of the church was making the shadows dance on the  
walls. A young gray blue female gargoyle was hopping from rafter to  
rafter, another one, a male and older was reading in one of the pews.  
There came a draft as the door opened in the   
back of the church. A young Krissie crouched down on the rafter and  
watched in silence as a tall figure walked towards her reading brother.   
  
"I told you last night, I will not use my power to wage war on an entire  
species," Archon said getting out of the pew.   
  
"I didn't come here to grovel for your help, but I will give you one last  
chance, " the figure took her hood off. It was a female gargoyle, the first  
gargoyle Krissie had seen besides Archon. Krissie could sense that she was  
hiding something under her long cloak.  
"And I told you that I would not," Archon answered sternly.  
"Very well, then you have sealed your fate!" The red hair of the gargoyle  
burned it's self into Krissie's memory. The stranger pulled something from  
her cloak, put it to her lips and almost instantaneously a dart was in  
Archon's chest.  
"ARCHON!!!" Krissie yelled and leapt from the rafters and landed beside  
her fallen brother. The stranger ran, laughing from the church. Krissie  
pulled the dart out, but she could tell that the poison was of the  
Grimourum. Frantically she cast every heal spell she knew, which wasn't a  
lot.   
Archon sighed, "Oh my Shana, it's too late for that," he began to breath  
funny. Archon took a stone from his pocket that had a string tied around  
it. Cupping it in his hands an eerie purple light surrounded him and seemed to go into his  
hands. It was gone in an instant.   
Slowly, he put it around the little gargoyle's neck, "One day when you are ready,  
you will gain the gift of shadow."  
Tears were streaming down Krissie's face, "You can't leave me."  
"I will always be with you, my sister, my Shana."  
Archon resigned to his fate laid back on the floor and closed his eyes.   
"NO!" Krissie cried, "Please, don't," she throw her arms around him crying.  
Krissie laid next to him crying for a moment. Then his body disintegrated  
into a purple, blue, gray mist that surrounded Krissie. Krissie looked up  
at, and swore she could feel Archon's hand wipe away a tear and the wind  
whispered, "I will always be with you." Krissie laid down on the spot and  
cried there where her brother had been for the rest of the night.   
  
The stone skin of sleep cracked and Krissie was once again awake. She  
didn't move, she had seen the scene over and over in her sleep. A draft  
sent shivers up her spine, numbly she looked back to see the red haired gargoyle walking  
towards her. Rage was all that Krissie was, leaping at the female she snarled. But she  
wasn't a fighter and the tall gargoyle caught her by her wrists.  
"You witch!" Cried Krissie, "May Caine take you, you wench!"  
The red haired gargoyle threw Krissie to the floor. She saw the pendant and  
knew immediately that Archon with his last bit of strength had sealed his  
power in that pendant. That also meant that only this little gargoyle that  
was kneeling on the floor was the only one that could use it.  
In disgust she started to chant. The little one just looked up at her with  
tears rolling down her face.   
Krissie felt at peace, she listened to the words the stranger was saying  
and understood what was happening. She felt tired, and the world went to  
stone.  
  
* * *  
  
....... and she woke up 900 years later in a Berkeley storage room,"  
Brooklyn finished.   
"I can't blame her," Lex said. The rest of the room nodded in agreement.   
"Puck," Blue-eyed Brooklyn said. "I will help you in anyway I can."   
Demona was looking down at the ground, hiding her face. Brooklyn noticed  
and bent down. He put a single talon under her chin and drew her face up.   
It was tear-streaked and her eyes were red and full of guilt.  
"I...I...tried to start over, Brooklyn...b-but..."  
"Oh, Demona..." Brooklyn put a hand behind her head and drew it down to his  
shoulder. Demona sat there, sobbing.  
"I wanted to start over, forget my past," she said in between sobs. "But  
every time I try to wipe the slate clean, my past just comes back and  
haunts me." She lifted her head again with fresh tears. "Why can't I forget  
my past?"   
"Ye cannot forget yer past, lass," Hudson said, shaking his head. "Ye can  
only try to make amends."  
"Hudson, I killed her brother, and her!" Demona said, shaking her head.  
"How is a simple apology supposed to heal that?" She stood up and walked  
away from the window. "Brooklyn..."  
"Yeah?" Both Brooklyns answered at the same time. They looked at each other  
and the brown-eyed one put a hand to his head.  
Demona didn't seem to notice. "The story you told was basically the same  
here, in our dimension, but there are a few differences." She looked up at  
the high moon, her eyes almost glazing over in memory. "It's true I wanted  
Archon to help me....."  
  
***  
  
"I am not using my powers to suit your needs, like I told you before,"  
Archon said, shutting his book. "I told you that last time. Why do you  
still pester me?"   
Demona brought down the hood and looked at the gargoyle before her. "I was  
hoping you changed your mind."   
"No, I did not. Now leave," Archon said, pointing towards the door.  
Demona felt rage building up inside of her. ~Why doesn't this gargoyle  
understand that the humans will betray him?~ she thought, pulling out her  
dart barrel. She saw Archon step back. "You will regret that in the future,  
friend." She raised the barrel to her lips and aimed for his shoulder,  
where the poison would only harm him enough to teach him a lesson. He would  
heal at sunrise.   
Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a second gargoyle, a young female.  
She was so startled that her aim was knocked off and the dart flew. Demona  
watched, as if almost in slow motion, as the dart went into Archon's stomach.   
Horrified at what she had done, she back up a few steps, covering her  
mouth. She heard, faintly, a yell. She saw the young gargoyle run up next  
to her brother and fall to his side. Demona put a hand to her mouth as she  
felt faint. She turned away and ran to the window, bursting through it.  
Ignoring the pain from the glass, she glided away into the night, fighting  
tears.  
  
  
* * *  
  
"And I fled, like the coward I am," Demona said, still looking out the window.  
"Then how did Krissie get cast in stone?" the blue-eyed Brooklyn asked.  
"I was horrified that I had caused the death of another gargoyle, but I  
blamed the humans, like I always had..."  
  
* * *  
  
Demona wanted to return to where she had left Archon and his young friend,  
but she couldn't bear to face them.  
She finally got up the nerve to go see if he had survived, although she was  
sure he hadn't. She glided up to the window the next night, peeking in. She  
saw the young female gargoyle, sitting on the ground and staring at  
nothing. Beside her, was the body of Archon.  
Guilt washed through Demona, but was replaced by concern for the young  
girl. She now had no one to turn to, no one to look up to. Demona had taken  
her entire life away.   
Demona wanted to make up for what she had done. She walked into the room,  
wanting to take in this young gargoyle, raise her. But to her horror, the  
young one noticed her and leapt at her. Demona held a hand out, wanting to  
tell her to stop, but she found she couldn't speak. She caught the young  
one by her wrists, still trying to say something. She then noticed the  
pendant the young girl was wearing. Demona pushed her back.   
As if in a dream, Demona started chanting. She didn't understand why, but  
she felt as if something was speaking through her, forcing her to cast the  
spell. She knew what spell she was casting, and she wanted desperately to  
stop, but by then it was too late.   
The girl was frozen forever in stone.  
"No..." Demona finally found her voice. "What have I done?" She turned her  
back to the girl, horrified. Once again, she fled from the scene.   
She landed on a nearby rooftop. She brought her knees up to her chest and  
stared pointlessly at the stars. "What have I done?" she asked again. She  
didn't know how long she sat there.  
"DEMON!"   
A thickly accented voice ripped through her mourning. She turned around  
quickly to spy a man with a black mask on. Across the front were three  
slashes, a memory from long ago...  
Demona growled and leapt at the Hunter. Her guilt was feeding her rage  
focused on this human.   
The Hunter kicked Demona in the stomach. "You and your demon race will  
perish at the hands of the Hunter!" Demona backed up a few steps and gasped  
at something.   
  
~I've already done his work for him.~  
  
She shook her head and leapt off the building. She caught an updraft and  
glided up. She looked back and saw the Hunter running off the roof and dive  
into a window.   
She decided to follow him. In a haze, she saw him find the young girl's  
statue, almost a memorial to herself and her brother.   
The Hunter raised his weapon.....  
  
* * *  
  
"And he smashed her to dust, probably not caring if she was a real gargoyle  
or not," Demona finished. The clan looked at her, half in sorrow, half in  
contempt. Except Brooklyn, who was watching her carefully, looking ready to  
run to her side at any signs of collapse.  
"Interesting story, Aurora." The voice came before the being did, and  
Oberon appeared in the middle of the room. Both Brooklyn and Demona gasped.  
"Why did you call me Aurora?" Demona said. "Only the coven called me that!"   
"I payed close attention to your certain coven," Oberon said. I remember  
when both of you were initiated into it, given your names..."  
"Lord Oberon!" Puck smiled nervously. Oberon turned to face his old servant.   
"Yes, Puck?" he asked, almost tiredly.   
"Well, Alex basically told you the whole story, right?" Puck said. Oberon  
nodded. "Well, now you're here!'  
"And where are the elementalists?" Oberon asked, crossing his arms. Puck  
pointed to the Brooklyn in the chair. "And where is the other? I was told  
there were two."  
Brooklyn slowly got up, testing the strength in his legs. "I'd better go  
find her. I didn't mean to let her away for so long, but I kind of couldn't  
move." He turned toward the door the Krissie had fled out of.  
"We'll help look," the other Brooklyn offered, standing up. Demona walked  
over to him and looked down at his metal pendant, then at her own.   
"Hey, uh..." Brooklyn looked at his blue-eyed twin. "Oh, may as well say it  
- Brooklyn, do you think she'll still be in the castle?"   
The blue-eyed Brooklyn thought a moment. "Most likely, but I really  
wouldn't know."   
"Okay, let's split up and look for her," Brooklyn ordered the rest of the  
clan. Everyone walked out of the room.  
  
* * *  
  
"I wonder what they act like in their world," Brooklyn said, walking next  
to Demona.   
"What do you mean?" Demona peered curiously at Brooklyn.  
"I wonder how they act in their own world, without all this...stuff...going  
on," Brooklyn continued thoughtfully. "I mean, they can't act like this all  
the time."  
"Brooklyn?"  
"They seem a little too...serious," Brooklyn explained.   
Demona grinned a little. "Brooklyn, I can't imagine even your alter self  
being serious."  
Brooklyn looked at Demona with pretend hurt on his face. "You think I can't  
be serious?" he asked.   
"You're like...the clan jester!"  
Brooklyn grinned broadly. "Lookie, folks, it's Brooklyn, the royal Clan  
Jester! Here to entertain Princess Angela and her royal highness, Queen  
Demona!" Brooklyn bowed elaborately before Demona, giving an exaggerated  
swoon. "Oh, my Queen, I am not worthy to be in your presence!"  
Demona laughed. "See what I mean?" Brooklyn, still grinning, started  
walking again. Demona put a hand on his arm.  
"Okay, I was wrong," she said. "You're not Clan Jester, at least if I am  
Queen." Brooklyn stopped walking and looked at her with a raised eye ridge.  
"If I am Queen," Demona said, pulling him closer. "Then you are King." She  
smiled and laid a single kiss on his beak. She then turned and began  
walking again, leaving a stunned Brooklyn.   
He grinned and followed.  
  
* * *  
  
Brooklyn was standing in the middle of the library. He was told that this  
was were she went the night he touched her pendant. He heard singing, so  
he knew his sire was here. It was a place where magic came easily.   
"I will remember you, will you remember me? don't let your life pass you  
by, weep not for the memory."   
"Kris?"   
Krissie continued to sing, "Weep not for the memory, weep..."  
Krissie was hidden in the shadows of the upper level bookcases, but  
Brooklyn knew she was there. He hopped up to the next level of the library  
and saw her on the ground, curled up.   
"Kris, I know you must feel strange around Demona-"  
"It's not that, Brooklyn," Krissie interrupted. "I cast shadow, that's  
what's bothering me."  
"Kris, you knew what Archon told you- you would gain the gift of shadow  
when you were ready," Brooklyn said, putting a comforting hand on her  
shoulder.   
Krissie curled up in his wings, "But I didn't gain anything, once Archon  
looked like me, but then he was given shadow and well you saw, he got  
purple. Brook, you can just go through my memories any time you want, I  
really don't mind that you're looking at my most private moments, so you go  
right ahead."  
"You went through Demona's memories-"  
"That's different."  
"How is it different?"  
Krissie could only look at him.  
  
* * *  
  
"Well, what do we know about the Phoenix?"   
Brooklyn and Demona had managed to get back on track after a while.  
Brooklyn looked at Demona, hoping for a good answer.   
Demona shook her head, to his disappointment. "Absolutely nothing."   
Brooklyn heaved a sigh and then veered to the left towards the library  
doors. "May as well check in here," he said, pushing open the door. They  
walked inside.  
"Well, what's everything that's in relation with the Gate...that we can  
remember?" Demona asked.  
Brooklyn stopped walking and started counting the points off on his talons.  
"Well, there was when you got the halves together and went back in the  
past, the Archmage fight on Avalon, Puck and that funky dream that he gave  
Goliath, Krystiana...oh, God..."  
Brooklyn and Demona looked at each other "Krystiana," they said at the same  
time.  
"She has got to be the answer!" Demona insisted. "She came back here with  
the Phoenix Gate. And she is from 47 years in the future, so we have to get  
the Phoenix Gate sometime in between now and that time." She put a talon to  
her cheek. "But how did we get it?"  
"Who is Krystiana?" They both looked up to the next level of the library to  
spot the other Brooklyn and Krissie.   
Krissie was curled up in a ball in Brooklyn's lap, asleep. Brooklyn was  
sitting in one of the big posh chairs Xanatos kept around.   
"You found her," Brooklyn said, and jumped up to the second level. Demona  
followed hesitantly. She saw Krissie curled up in a ball and could only  
think of that little gargoyle back in the church crying for her brother.  
Brooklyn smiled and shook his head. "Don't feel bad, Demona. She's been  
through a lot and has always came back for more. The best thing to do is  
let her sleep."  
"Are you sure that the right thing to do?" the other Brooklyn said. "I  
mean, Oberon's here."  
"May I ask you a blunt question?" Demona said.   
"Go ahead."   
"You seem so serious, not like the Brooklyn here," Demona said and looked  
at Krissie. She really felt pity for her, an emotion she hadn't felt this  
deeply in many centuries.  
Brooklyn sighed, "I don't normally act like this, I'm scared."  
"Why?" the other Brooklyn asked.  
Krissie scratched behind her ear with her foot.  
"Why? Besides from the obvious being sucked through a portal and ending up  
in a different dimension? I was only brought across a couple weeks ago, I  
don't know what I'm doing. And Kris is rather mixed up by the present  
circumstances," Brooklyn finished. He started to unconsciously stroke Krissie's side as  
she slept.  
"Mixed up, or screwed up?" Brooklyn asked.  
The Brooklyn with Krissie in his lap had to smile, "Back there she was just  
confused, but as psychologically, she's screwed."  
Krissie smiled in her sleep, "I heard that," she said, eyes closed.  
"Are you going to behave?" her Brooklyn asked.  
"Okay," Krissie answered.  
"Then lets go meet up with Oberon," Demona said.   
  
* * *  
  
Demona tried to stay as far away as possible from Krissie as she could.  
When Krissie walked in first in line, the two Brooklyns followed, then  
Demona came last.   
She could barely look at Krissie without getting floods of memories. They  
bore down on her, teasing her, haunting her. They swirled around her,  
trying to tell her that she was evil and could never reform.   
~Oh, shut up,~ she told her brain.   
  
Brooklyn, her Brooklyn, was watching her carefully. He and Angela were the  
only ones who truly trusted her for all that she was worth. She trusted all  
of them. She even trusted the Detective, Elisa Maza, a little. She could  
now understand why they considered her part of the clan. She was like  
family, and she would have made a good gargoyle. Demona would have liked  
her for a rookery sister, someone to talk to. She now thought of Elisa as  
her sister, despite her appearance. She still would never fully trust  
humans again, but then, neither did the rest of the clan.   
"Hello? Space cadet!" Demona blinked as Brooklyn waved his talons in front  
of her face.   
"Huh? What?" She shook her head to clear it. "Oh, sorry, I was just  
thinking..."  
"`Bout what?"   
"About Krystiana," she said, half-truthfully. "If there was some way we  
could contact her..."  
"You still haven't told us who that is," came Brooklyn's voice from in  
front of them. The blue-eyed Brooklyn and Krissie were looking at them.   
Brooklyn and Demona looked at each other, then back at Krissie and her  
Brooklyn.   
"Well, Demona's future self and Krystiana came from the future, just a few  
weeks ago," Brooklyn began. "They had the Phoenix Gate, so we must have  
gotten it back somehow."  
"But who _is_ Krystiana?" Krissie asked.   
Demona and Brooklyn looked at each other, not bothering to communicate  
silently because they knew they had to tell them.   
"She is...supposedly...our daughter," Demona said.   
"Daughter?" the Blue-eyed Brooklyn asked, interlocking his hand with  
Krissie's. Demona nodded.   
Brooklyn suddenly opened his eyes wide with an idea. "I've got it!" he  
yelled, grinning.  
Demona looked at his. "Got what?"  
"We can communicate with her!" he said, still grinning madly. "All we need  
to do is send her a letter."  
"I'm not quite following you, there," Krissie said.  
"Like Xanatos did. He went back in time and sent himself the coin to his  
younger self. It took a thousand years, but not as long to him - what we  
need to do is get someone to give her a letter in about forty-seven years!"  
Demona smiled and looked back at Krissie and her Brooklyn.   
"It's worth a shot," Krissie's Brooklyn said.  
  
* * *  
  
"Be sure this gets to her," Dominique Destine ordered.   
"Yes, ma'am," said the young boy, who was called Jeffery Smith. He had a  
thick accent, probably Texan. "You're paying me enough for it, one little  
delivery twon't hurt me."  
Ms. Destine sat back, looking somewhat satisfied. "Remember, forty-seven  
years to the dot," she reminded him as he got up to leave.  
"Don't worry, ma'am. I'll mark it on all my calenders," Jeffery said,  
putting on his hat. "G'day, Ms. Destine." He turned and left.  
  
* * *  
  
Brooklyn awoke with a crash. He turned to Demona, who was looking at him,  
smiling.   
"Did you get someone?" he asked.  
"Yes, and he is reliable," Demona said, walking up to him.  
"We better get back to the castle," he said.   
  
* * *  
  
Castle Wyvern  
2044 A.D.  
  
"I have a letter here for a Miss Krystiana."  
Demona turned to face an old human. He looked to be about fifty, maybe  
older. She remembered something faintly, but she couldn't grasp it.  
"Krys isn't here right now," she said. "Do you want me to take it?"   
The human shook his head, completely oblivious to the fact that he was  
talking to a gargoyle. "I was told to give it directly to her."  
"I'm right here, Mom," Krystiana said, coming out of the shadows. The human  
held out an envelope that looked old to her. She took it and turned it  
over, studying it.   
"Uh...thanks..." she said. "What did you your name was?"  
The man smiled. "Didn't. It's Jeffery Smith."   
Demona gasped, and then quickly ran into another room. Krystiana looked to  
where she had fled and then glanced at Jeffery.   
"Thanks again, sorry to run, but..." she ran into the room after Demona.   
"Mom?"   
Krystiana looked around the room, not seeing anyone. She spotted the open  
window and sighed.   
Krys plopped down in a nearby chair and then looked once again at the  
letter in her hand. It had been sealed old fashionably, most likely from  
the `90's. She opened it, rather bored.  
  
  
Krystiana-  
We are in need of your help. It seems a bit awkward, but come into the past  
again with the Phoenix Gate. We have a slight problem with the Phoenix, and  
we need to know how you got the Phoenix Gate.   
-The Manhattan Clan  
July 23, 1997  
  
  
Krys sighed and opened the pouch at her side. ~Well, there goes my night,~  
she thought as she pulled out the Phoenix Gate.   
  
* * *  
  
Castle Wyvern  
1997 A.D.  
  
Oberon watched the two Brooklyns with interest. They were in an arm  
wrestling contest, and of course they were evenly matched.   
Everyone was watching and cheering, trying to keep their minds off Goliath.  
Even Demona was smiling and rooting for her Brooklyn. The arms hadn't even  
moved one inch because each Brooklyn was at even strength.   
The blue-eyed Brooklyn finally did something. "Oh, dear lord!" he yelled,  
pointing at something to the left. The other Brooklyn turned, letting his  
guard down.  
The blue-eyed Brooklyn took the chance and slammed the other Brooklyn's  
fist to the table. Krissie smiled and hugged her Brooklyn.   
"That was mine," Krissie whispered to Brooklyn.  
"Where do you think I got it?" Brooklyn whispered back, running a talon  
through her hair.  
Krissie grinned and put her head on Brooklyn's shoulder. She watched the  
clan, smiling, laughing. One disturbed her. Demona was laughing.   
And it wasn't evilly, not anything like the laugh she had heard when she  
killed Archon. It was sincere, good-natured laughter.   
"She really isn't anything like the Demona in our world," Krissie whispered  
to Brooklyn.  
"Yeah," Brooklyn whispered back. "I wonder what would happen if they would  
meet-"  
His words were cut off, as was the laughter, when a globe of fire ignited  
in the middle of the room.   
"So, what's up?" the female gargoyle said, that was now standing where the  
globe of fire was.  
"Hello, Krystiana," Demona said. "Thank you for coming."  
  
"So _this_ is Krystiana," Krissie said, and looked her over. She next  
looked Brooklyn over. "At least she didn't get your nose," she said to her  
Brooklyn.  
"Oh, will you shut up about my nose?" Blue-eyed Brooklyn said. Brooklyn  
promptly grabbed Krissie, pinned her on the floor and started to tickle the  
life out of her.  
Krys just looked at her father and back at her father's twin. "Uh...huh..."  
"Just think dimensional warp," Brooklyn said. He looked at his twin  
tickling his sire and telling her to say mercy. All he could do was shake  
his head. He sighed and regained his train of thought. "Anyway, the  
Phoenix is out, stole Goliath, and is really mad."  
"Do you have the gate with you?" Oberon asked, in his monotone.  
"Yeah," Krys said, still looking at the tickling war.  
"MER-CY!!!!" Krissie cried in between laughs. "Mercy, I give!"  
Krissie and Brooklyn sat down in one of the chairs. Actually, more like  
Krissie sat down on Brooklyn who sat down in one of the chairs.  
"Good," Oberon continued in his bored indifferent voice, "We can use this  
gate as a forge to make a new one. We shall go to Avalon so we will have  
access to proper materials."  
"What about the Phoenix?" Lex asked, "I don't think she wants to go back."  
"What about Goliath?" Angela asked.  
Oberon sighed. "Elementalists do have a talent for travel on Gia's plain,  
so that could be a problem."  
"What do elementalists have to do with the Phoenix?" Demona asked.  
"Didn't you figure that out?" Puck said, "The Phoenix was an elementalist."  
Elisa looked confused for a moment. "But...what about the Greek myths?"  
Oberon turned to Elisa. "They are true. The Phoenix was worshiped as a god  
in those ancient times."  
"She was a fire elemental, which doesn't exist in our world anymore because  
the element died when Oberon sank Atlantis. She died, but was resurrected  
from the ashes, and the Greeks began worshiping her. In that form she could  
travel through time with a thought," Krissie finished.   
"So big daddy Oberon panicked and locked her in the gate, which his now  
loyal fey children helped him make," Puck continued, "But all of them had  
lost the skill need to trap the Phoenix so he called on the elementalists."  
"Yes, they were very cooperative," Oberon said, "One lured her into the  
gate and got out before the Phoenix realized that it was a trap."  
"What a minute," Brooklyn piped up. "You mean you want one of us has to  
revert into element form, travel in flesh on Gia's plane, and go into an  
artificial realm?"  
"Yes," Oberon said, "Put first we must travel to Avalon to forge a new gate."  
"First?!?" Krissie yelled, both her and Brooklyn were white as ghosts.  
"Maybe this place isn't that bad," Brooklyn said, looking at the floor.  
"What? You're just giving up?" Krys asked.  
"Why don't I just shoot myself and save the time?" Krissie said. The tip  
of her tale was starting to twitch. Brooklyn wrapped his arms and wings  
around her but she was already shaking.  
"Is what you have to do hard?" Lex asked.  
"You could say that," Brooklyn answered in a calm voice.  
"Well, are you or aren't you going to do it?" The other Brooklyn asked. He  
didn't understand most of what they were talking about.  
"What Oberon wants me to do is very hard." Krissie glanced at Demona and  
the other Brooklyn. ~I didn't belong here,~ Krissie thought. ~We don't  
belong here.~ "But I'll try."  
"Krishana, you can't be serious!!" Krissie's Brooklyn said. "You can't  
travel on Gia's plain in flesh, and what if something happens? "  
Krissie took Brooklyn's hand in her's and caressed the back of it. She  
gazed deep into his eyes, "What if."  
"You guys should be on the soaps," Puck said with a sniffle and a fake tear.  
"Now that we have that settled," Oberon said, "On to Avalon."  
There was a flash of light and as the glare died everyone could see that  
they were standing on the bluff that overlooked the beach. They all  
looked in the direction of the castle.   
"No!" Angela cried as she fell to her knees. "No."  
  
The landscape was burnt, the orchard was a field of smoldering ashes. The  
castle looked like it had been under attack by the Quarrymen. Bits of the  
parapets were everywhere. A few stray gargoyles stood around the remains  
of the tower.   
"What happened here?" Elisa said, mouth open.   
  
Everything was in ruin.  
Brooklyn glanced at Oberon, who, for the possibly first and last time in  
his life, looked shocked. But what more, Oberon looked panicked. He opened his mouth  
and yelled one word before disappearing.  
"TITANIA!!!"  
Brooklyn looked down at where Oberon had stood. "He's scared for his wife,~  
Brooklyn thought. ~He's scared that she might be dead...~ He looked down at  
Demona, who was looking around the land.   
*Where are we?* Demona's voice came into Brooklyn's head.   
*I guess on Avalon,* Brooklyn replied. He thought he heard someone moan  
somewhere near. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place it.   
"My brothers, my sisters..." Angela was sobbing, ignoring all comfort  
Broadway tried to give her. "Where are they?"  
Brooklyn heard the moan again. *Did you hear that?* he thought to Demona.  
Demona took a moment before answering. *Yes.* She turned her head towards  
the sound as it came again.   
They both walked over to a pile of stones, away from the group. Together,  
they removed the heavy stone on top. Beneath, was a sight that amazed  
everyone's eyes.  
Brooklyn searched for a name. "Luna?"  
It was the white-haired Weird Sister, covered in debris. She was scratched  
and bleeding in numerous places. There was dirt smeared across her face,  
her dress ripped here and there.   
Brooklyn picked her up and brought her back to the group. She was  
unconscious and actually looked weak.   
A muscular gargoyle came out of the shadows. Angela looked up with  
tear-filled eyes. "Gabriel!" she yelled, looking relieved. She stood up and  
threw her arms around his neck. Broadway sat back, looking slightly jealous.   
"What happened here, Gabriel?" Angela asked.   
"I wish I knew," Gabriel said. He looked back at the destruction, sighing.  
The blue-eyed Brooklyn bent down and looked at the scorch marks on the  
ground. "I think it's pretty much obvious," he stated, running his hand  
along the dirt. "The Phoenix."  
Demona looked at her Brooklyn with a sharp turn of her head. "But how..."  
She turned her head again as a single sentence was said, one filled with  
horror, but almost fascination.  
"I'm bleeding!" Luna had a hand to her head. "Immortals do not bleed." Her  
voice had the usual contempt within it, but it did not have the echo that  
everyone remembered. She looked around. "Where are my sisters?" she asked,  
standing up. "I cannot sense them...I can't sense anyone!" Her eyes widened  
with shocked realization. "I...I have no powers! They are...gone..."  
"Can you tell us what happened?" Krystiana asked, putting a comforting hand  
on Luna's shoulder.  
"The Phoenix came, and I remember her looking at me and my sisters..." Luna  
shook her head, trying to remember. "And then I...blacked out. That has  
never happened to me before."  
Brooklyn thought a moment, then bent down next to Luna. He reached out and  
gave her a sharp pinch in the arm.  
"OW!!" Luna yelled, clutching a hand over her arm. She glared at Brooklyn,  
then gasped. "I felt real pain!"  
Brooklyn nodded in conclusion, standing up. "Guess what, Luna. You're not  
immortal anymore. Welcome to the land of mortals."  
"Mortal?!" Luna looked shocked. "But how can it be?"  
Gabriel watched with interest. "It was like this when we woke up. That was  
only a few minutes-"  
He was cut off by a yell that came from the castle. Angela gasped. "That  
sounds like Guardian!"  
"Tom?" Elisa said. Angela and Gabriel began running towards the castle.  
Everyone looked at everyone else, and followed.   
  
* * *  
  
They found Tom bent down, beside a crumbled pile of stones. Angela sat down  
beside him, and slowly picked up a piece of the stone. She gasped and dropped it.   
Gabriel looked at the dropped piece of stone. "No..." Bronx whimpered and  
laid on the floor.   
"Boudicca..." Tom shook his head in sorrow. "I never knew how much she  
meant to me...to all of us..."  
Luna staggered in. "There are a few more outside, smashed as well," she  
said. "I believe their names are...were... Melissa, Jordan, Christopher,  
and William." She stopped for a moment. "I am sorry."  
Tom looked up and saw Lex, Broadway, and Brooklyn. "You three! I remember  
you!"   
"You do?" Lex asked.  
"I met you three the night before...the Vikings attacked." Tom stopped. He  
looked over at Brooklyn. "My mother hit you with a piece of firewood."   
"TOM?!" Brooklyn exclaimed. "Jeez..." He noticed Tom looking over his  
shoulder, at his twin.   
"Why are there two of ye?" he asked.   
Krystiana spoke up, after keeping silent for a long time. "I want to know  
that, too."   
Brooklyn looked at his twin and Krissie and sighed. "Its a long story..."  
  
* * *  
  
"So how are we to defeat this Phoenix?" Tom asked.  
"Oberon said he must forge a new Gate," Lex said.   
"My sisters and I did that the last time the Phoenix was out," Luna said.  
She looked up at the sky. "I cannot do that now. I have no powers."  
"Once we find your other sisters, you can," Krissie said.   
"Yes," Luna agreed. "Together we have our powers. But separate..." she  
stopped and looked down.  
"Hey, where is Oberon, any ways?" Broadway said.   
"Right here." Oberon appeared off to the side. "I had to make sure my Queen  
was safe."   
Luna kneeled before Oberon with a pleading look on her face. "My lord, do  
you know where my sisters are?"  
"Luna, I can only tell they are somewhere on the island," Oberon said. "But  
I think one is inside the castle." He looked down at Luna with a little  
sympathy. "We will find them. You three helped me forge the Gate the last  
time."  
Other surviving gargoyles gathered around the crowd. A few of them peered  
at Brooklyn and the other newcomers. Many of them edged away from Demona,  
remembering the last time she had come to Avalon.   
Brooklyn turned to the clan he knew. "We should probably try and find the  
other two sisters. We should split up in teams and search the entire island."   
Gabriel raised an eye ridge at the red gargoyle giving orders. He turned to  
look at Angela to share his concern, but she seemed to be listening to him.  
He elbowed her in her side to get her attention. She turned and glared at  
him.   
"What?" she whispered.  
"Who is he to give orders?" he whispered back.  
"Father's second-in-command, that's who," Angela said quietly.  
Gabriel paused. "Father?"  
"Goliath." Angela stood up and walked over to Broadway.  
Gabriel stared after her in shock. ~Goliath is her father?~ he thought to  
himself.   
  
* * *  
  
Elisa was getting impatient, and it showed.   
She was searching the castle, or at least the remains of it. Katherine, who  
had been out in the forest at Magus's grave when the attack took place, had  
shown up and saw what happened. She helped Elisa search for the lost  
sister. Ophelia accompanied them, lifting up the heavy stones and pushing  
away the large pieces of furniture.  
Elisa threw a few loose rocks over her shoulder. ~Goliath could be dead,  
and we're looking for an old enemy to help us,~ she thought. She wiped a  
single tear from her eye at the thought of Goliath not being there for her.   
She thought back over the last few years that she had known him and the  
rest of the clan. Bronx had been the first one she had seen, and he had  
almost given her a heart attack. Goliath came in next, and then she fell  
off the building. But Goliath dove down and caught her.   
~The first catch,~ she thought. ~The first one of many.~   
  
The memories were many, but all priceless. Brooklyn, at first, seemed to be  
the one who least trusted humans. But then Demona showed up. The first  
words that Demona had said directly to Elisa were, "You've just been  
poisoned."  
Elisa couldn't believe how much Demona had changed. ~And for that matter,  
Brooklyn, too,~ Elisa thought. ~He was the one who had least trusted  
Demona, now he was the one who trusted her the most, even more that Angela.~  
Elisa sighed as she helped Ophelia push a heavy rock over. There was still  
no sign of one of the other sisters.   
"Over here!" The Princess shouted. "I've found her!" Ophelia and Elisa ran  
over to her.   
Sure enough, there she was. It was the black-haired one, Phoebe. Unlike her  
leader, she was conscious, but still badly hurt.   
Ophelia turned to Elisa. "What would you have me do?" she asked. Elisa  
blinked.  
"Since when did I become...never mind." Elisa sighed. "We should take her  
to Oberon and Luna."  
"Luna?" Phoebe said, almost excitedly. "Selena - they are alive?"  
Elisa looked down at her with pity. "We don't know about Selena, but Luna  
is." As Phoebe's face fell, Elisa offered her hand.   
"We'll find her," Elisa said, helping the fay up. Letting Phoebe lean on  
her, they staggered to the outside.   
"I wonder how the others are doing..."  
  
* * *  
Brooklyn split everyone into groups of five. The Manhattan Clan separated  
because they didn't know their way around the island. Everyone seemed to  
accept him as the leader in Goliath's absence. Demona had ended up going with Angela  
because she felt uncomfortable aboutthe stares coming from the other gargoyles.  
  
All the gargoyles had been spilt up, or so Brooklyn thought. Two had  
slipped away in the confusion and chaos. Brooklyn had gone with Gabriel  
and another gargoyle.   
"That other red one," Gabriel said, "The one that looks just like you.  
Which group is he in?"  
Brooklyn slapped his forehead. "He isn't in a group. I lost sight of him.  
We have got to find him."  
"Why should we?" The female gargoyle with pale grey skin and black hair  
asked. "He probably went out looking with that other one with the purple  
hair."  
"Eva's right," Gabriel said. "They are most likely looking too."  
"You don't get it. They are the elementalists. I have to know where they  
are."  
  
* * *  
  
Brooklyn sat at the grotto. The water here was rich and clean. It was  
alive. The water around Manhattan was always stagge and dead. The stone gazebo  
with the looking pool was in front of him. Brooklyn sighed and dipped his  
feet in the water. It was warm. Despite all that had happened he felt calm  
and relaxed now. Brooklyn could feel the energy flow freely in the water.   
He felt what had happened, the balance shifting back and forth like waves.  
Brooklyn listened to the water splash on the shore behind him. It was so  
peaceful here. This was where the water element was most potent. Krissie  
told him to find Goliath and that was just what he doing. He concentrated  
on a memory of Goliath, one from before the massacre. He remembered when  
the leader of the clan had taken the time to teach a small, and somewhat  
scrawny, red beaked gargoyle how to use a sword. Goliath did know how to  
use weapons, he just chose not to. While concentrating on this memory, the  
water in the pool began to swirl and foam.   
  
"Hey, Brooklyn!" Gabriel called from the beach, the other Brooklyn and Eva  
close behind him.   
"Where did you go? Where's Krissie?" Brooklyn demanded, none of them  
noticed the image in the pool at first, but once they did they were silent.  
The image showed Goliath in a cage. It looked like he was in a hall of  
some sort. A reddish-orange hall that resembled all tales of hell. Beside  
the cage was a throne, with the Phoenix sitting on it. There was a small  
fire in front of her. Behind the throne were columns with fire spiraling  
up them. It sent shivers down the back of all the gargoyles. On the other  
side of the Phoenix was the third sister, who also was in a cage and was  
bound by chains. Iron no doubt. Suddenly the image shifted and went to a  
close up on the Phoenix's face. Her eyes popped open and flared bright  
yellow. She roared, but the three onlookers couldn't hear. But the  
Brooklyn that was making this possible cringed and covered his ears with  
his hands as he fell back with a small yelp. The water stopped moving and  
the image was lost into darkness.   
"That bitch!" Brooklyn said, shaking his head.  
"What happened?" Eva asked.  
"Where was that?" Gabriel asked.  
"She's in the fire node, and she saw what I was doing. Oww," Brooklyn said,  
rubbing his jaw.  
"Where's Krissie?" Brooklyn asked.  
"The wind node," Brooklyn answered.  
"How do we get to the fire node?" Gabriel asked.  
"I'll take you there," blue eyes said and got up.   
  
* * *  
  
Four gargoyles stood at the rim of the volcano. The light given off by the  
molten rock gave their faces an ominous glow. A warm wind whistled pass  
and made them all shiver.  
  
"There." One of the Brooklyns pointed to the small cave across the lava  
field. "In there."  
"But that's just an old cave," Eva said and swallowed.  
"Goliath is really in there?" Gabriel asked. He sounded  
unsure about what they all knew they had to do.  
"Yes, and the missing sister," Brooklyn said and looked at the lava.  
"Can't live forever," the Brooklyn that had become the leader in Goliath's  
absence said and flew off towards the small cave. One by one the others  
followed. They all flew into the cave, it glowed orange and was hot. The  
small group walked through a small hallway with carving on them. Eva  
stopped and looked mesmerized at the murals.  
"What do they mean?" she asked running a hand over them.  
"It tells the story of the first elementalists," Brooklyn said, "More like  
the enslaving of the elementalists."  
"Come on," The other one said, "I want to get Goliath and get out."  
"We should get the other sister first," Gabriel said. "At least then we can  
make another Gate."  
"Good point," Blue eye Brooklyn said.  
"Where did the Phoenix go?" Eva said.  
The three males wandered cautiously into the hall that they had seen in the  
water.   
"Brooklyn! Gabriel!" Goliath said from the cage. "Get her out first."  
Shhhh," Brooklyn put a finger to his beak. "She's here."  
"Let's get this over with," Eva said, "This place doesn't feel right."  
The four crossed the hall as fast as the could. Gabriel smashed the door  
of Selena's cage in.  
"My sisters?" Selena pleaded.  
"They're fine," Brooklyn with blue eyes said. "We gotta get out of here!"  
The Brooklyns started to break the chains, but they were hot. Even with the  
two of them working they had to break them one at a time. Gabriel looked over  
his shoulder at Goliath watching from the other cage.   
"I can't just leave him here," Gabriel said and started to run across the  
hall.  
There was a flash of light and a high pitched roar. Eva looked up and saw  
the Phoenix, flying down from the ceiling. She was in a vaguely human form,  
but still made of flame. She had a large knife in her hand and she was  
heading towards Gabriel.  
  
"NO!!" Eva cried, and ran fast on four legs. She reached Gabriel and  
pushed him out of the way just as the Phoenix's knife came down on her.  
Eva's eyes went wide as she fell to the floor. There was an moment of  
silence and shock as the Phoenix pulled the knife from Eva's back. Blue  
eyed Brooklyn ran to where Eva had fallen and stood over her body. Gabriel  
fell beside his sister.  
"Eva!" he began to cry as he took his sister in his arms.  
Brooklyn snarled and his eyes flared blue. The Phoenix laughed and held  
the knife to his neck.  
"Foolish child," she said.   
An ear piercing scream made them all turn. Krissie came hurling into the  
hall and knocked Phoenix on her tail.   
"Leave my child alone," Krissie said snarling and flaring her eyes green.   
The Phoenix only cackled as they began to circle each other, Krissie on  
all fours and the Phoenix hopping on two.  
"Take Selena and leave," Krissie ordered.  
  
Without a word, the two Brooklyns took Selena and Gabriel picked up Eva's  
still body and left Krissie and the Phoenix in a face off.   
  
  
* * *  
  
Goliath tested the chains around him. They had been weakened by  
the Phoenix's heat when she rushed past him. Using all his strength, he  
pressed against the chains. They silently started popping open.  
Unnoticed, Goliath slipped out of his cage.   
  
* * *  
  
Krystiana looked around as a scream echoed across the hills. She  
narrowed her eyes.   
"Helena, wait," Krystiana said, fulling her wings to hover. The  
blue female in front looked back.   
Don't order me around, child," she said.   
"And don't call me child!" Krys shot back. "Something is going on.  
I'm leaving. I don't care what my father said. I'm `separating.'" She  
glided a few feet away and then looked back. "Oh, and might I add, you  
have the most shocking bossiness ever!" With that, she glided towards  
where the scream had come from.   
Helena turned to her companions. "`Shocking?'"  
  
* * *  
  
Krys hurtled towards the cave at top speed.  
  
"Krys!" She looked down and saw her father and his party, plus  
three extra charges. The other Brooklyn, the third sister, and Goliath.  
Krystiana landed on silent feet. "What happened?"  
Blue-eyed Brooklyn looked at her with a worried look on his face,  
"Krissie is back there facing the Phoenix by herself."  
Krys's eyes opened wide suddenly. "No!" she whispered quietly.   
"Krys?" Brooklyn peered at his daughter-to-be. "What it is?"  
"That's not supposed to happen yet!" Krys started running towards  
a tree.   
"Oh, no you don't!" Brooklyn said, grabbing her tail.   
"Oh, yes, I do!" Krystiana said with heated contempt. She glared  
at her father's younger self. "Let me go. Now." When Brooklyn still held  
on, she growled, her eyes lighting up red. "NOW!" she roared. "I don't  
have time for this!"  
Surprised by Krystiana's explosion, Brooklyn dropped it. Using the  
moment to her advantage, Krys dashed for the tree again, this time no  
one moving to stop her.  
Goliath glanced at Krystiana's retreating form. "It seems she will  
inherit both your's and Demona's tempers." Brooklyn glared at Goliath.  
"That's not funny."  
"I know. It's a fact."  
  
* * *  
  
Krystiana landed silently in a pile of brush near to the cave.  
There she saw Krissie and the Phoenix circling each other.   
  
~I can't let anything happen to either of them!~ Krys thought with  
her brow furrowed. ~Without either of them...~  
Krystiana closed her eyes. She concentrated on the Powers that she  
had trained with all her life. She focused on the sky, the clouds...the  
water. She only mouthed the words, but it was enough.  
  
"By the Watchtower of the West  
May the Powers of Water  
Help me douse this flame of jest."  
  
* * *  
  
Thunder crackled across the sky, causing the Phoenix to look up.  
Krissie decided to use the distraction. She resorted to physical combat,  
knocking into the Phoenix with all her weight, hoping that the Phoenix  
wasn't expecting it.  
She wasn't. The Phoenix fell to the ground just a rain began to  
fall.   
"Are _you_ doing this?" the Phoenix screeched.   
"No..." Krissie said, back in the same position as she had been  
when they were circling each other.   
"It never rains on Avalon!" the Phoenix said, puzzled. "Someone else is  
the cause of this."  
The Phoenix suddenly let out a screech that could have rivaled the  
Banshee's. She whipped towards some bushes and glared at them. Krissie  
crouched down to spring again, but the bushes suddenly caught on fire  
and Krystiana leapt out of her hiding place, knocking into the Phoenix  
herself.  
"Krys!" Krissie hissed. "What are you doing here?"  
"What does it shocking look like?" Krystiana growled. "I'm helping  
you."  
"Get out of here."  
Krystiana ignored the order. The Phoenix got up and sprung at her.   
"YOU!!!" The Phoenix yelled, throwing a ball of flame. Krystiana  
was hit squarely in the side. She roared and fell to the ground.  
"You..." the Phoenix repeated.  
"Never expected to see me again, did you?" Krystiana got up and  
dusted off her arm. She swung out with her leg and connected with the  
Phoenix's head. "Miss me?"  
  
* * *  
  
"GOLIATH!!!" Elisa practically threw herself at Goliath. "You're  
alive!"   
Goliath had never been more happy in his life to see someone. "So  
are you!" Goliath laughed, all his dignity forgotten for a moment.  
Everyone watched their reunion with a smile on their face, even Selena.   
  
Selena spotted her sisters, laying side by side. She limped over to  
them. "My sisters!" she cried joyfully. "You are alive!"  
Brooklyn glanced at his blue-eyed twin. "`You're alive!'" he  
mocked. Blue-eyes managed a smile.   
That one expression traveled across the plain. But the Princess  
noticed the gray female in Gabriel's arms.  
"Eva!" Ophelia yelled. "No!"   
Angela ran to Gabriel's side. She clasped Eva's cold hand in her  
own, crying into it, "Sister..."  
The rejoicing quickly died away. A single tear ran down Gabriel's  
face.  
  
* * *  
  
The Phoenix was down for the moment. Krissie turned to Krystiana.  
"What are you doing here?" Krystiana didn't answer. She only sat,  
rubbing her side where the Phoenix had hit her.  
"This is not your fight," Krissie said.  
"It's more my fight than anyone else's," Krystiana said  
indignantly.   
"What?"  
"If the Phoenix doesn't get into the Gate, then I won't exist."  
Krystiana glanced at the Phoenix, then down at the pack at her side.  
"How did a single kick bring it down?"  
"Rain weakens it." Krystiana grinned. "It _is_ made of fire."  
"Where did the rain come from?" Krystiana fell silent again.   
"I...I called it," Krystiana said after a few moments, almost  
shyly.   
Krissie opened her eyes wide. "But you aren't an elementalist!"  
"I know."  
"Then how did you do it?"  
"You aren't the only ones who can tap into the elements,"  
Krystiana said. She glanced around her. "I'll tell you, but you have to  
promise not to tell anyone in this dimension." Krissie nodded. "They  
aren't allowed to find this out yet. It's the whole explanation to the  
Early Hatchers."  
Krissie looked at her with interest.  
Krystiana cleared her throat. "Ever hear of the Watchtowers?"  
  
* * *  
  
Krissie and Krystiana dragged the Phoenix back to the broken down  
castle. Demona was the first to spot them.  
"Miracles do happen," Demona whispered when she saw them. Brooklyn  
glanced at her with a strange look on his face.   
"Huh?"  
"They're okay!" Demona started yelling. She pointed at them,  
smiling. Despite the time difference, Krystiana was as much her daughter  
as Angela.  
Krystiana sighed and sat down on the ground when they had reached  
the castle. The rain continued to drizzle down.   
"We...have to get...her...tied up," Krissie said breathlessly.   
"The sooner...the better," Krys agreed.  
The weird sisters were already looking better, although they were  
still slightly smudged. Luna stood up. "We can help forge the Gate now."  
Krissie glanced at her Brooklyn and then Krystiana. "We three will  
tie up the Phoenix."  
Goliath nodded. "The rest of us had better get inside."  
"The Phoenix has to stay outside or she'll wake up," Krys said  
quickly.   
Goliath nodded. "All right." Everyone left the scene except  
Krystiana, Brooklyn, and Krissie.   
"Welp, to work," Krystiana said, trying to get up. Suddenly, she  
roared and fell back down, clutching her side.   
"Krys?" Brooklyn asked. "What's going on? Is someone doing  
something to you?" He glanced at the still unmoving Phoenix.  
Krissie bent down to Krystiana. "No..." Krissie breathed slowly.  
"Thiswound is older. This is from when the Phoenix shot you with that  
fireball!" Krystiana nodded, gasping in pain. "You haven't given  
yourself time to heal."  
"There is no time to heal," Krystiana said. "Only...a coward...  
would think to convalesce amid a crisis."  
"Krys, this is bonkers!" Krissie interrupted. "You are all but  
dying on your feet...pouring you life's blood out for your purpose."  
Krissie propped Krys up, despite her protesting. "I have to get you back  
to the others before-"  
"Before what, Krissie?" Krystiana glared at her. "Before I die  
here, defending the only thing in life that has ever been important to  
me?" She cringed in pain. "Is that what you would do if you were in my  
place? Run away?" She sighed and looked up at the sky. "Or would you  
stay...and fight...with your last breath?"  
Krissie looked at Brooklyn after Krystiana was through with her  
speech.   
"Kris," Brooklyn said, looking down at Krystiana. "Can't you heal  
her?"  
"NO!" Krystiana said, snarling. "I would rather suffer. I want to  
heal on my own. I consider healing from magic cheating."  
"Cheating?" Krissie tried not to smile.   
Brooklyn looked at Krystiana and smiled widely. Krissie smiled  
the same smile and began to look at Krystiana's side.   
"No," Krystiana said, "I won't allow it."  
Then Brooklyn took the top part of Krystiana and Krissie took the  
other and together they hauled her into the small infirmary where most  
everyone was.   
"Put me down!" Krys screamed.  
"I wouldn't scream if I were you," Brooklyn said. "Save your  
breath and maybe you'll live."  
"I'd rather die," Krys snarled. "Put me down!"  
"Ok," Krissie said. Brooklyn and she promptly dropped Krys on her  
tail on one of the cots.   
"What's going on?" Goliath asked he had seen the two carry Krys  
in.  
"She's feeling tired," Krissie said in a smooth, calm voice. She   
looked into Krys's eyes and waved her hand in front of her face.  
"Sleep."  
  
Krys's eyes slowly closed and her body relaxed as she laid down   
slowly. Brooklyn started to examine Krys's burn more closely when the  
rain stopped. There was an uneasy silence as the princess looked at her  
eggs standing around her and Tom and the sisters looked up from the  
newly formed gate. There came a load roar from outside. The Phoenix was  
awake. Brooklyn and Krissie hadn't tied her up as Krys wanted.   
"Brooklyn," Krissie said softly, "Stay with her."  
He looked into his sire's eyes and took her hand in his. Krissie   
kissed his forehead as a tear rolled down her face. She started to walk  
away towards the sound. Brooklyn let her hand slip through his fingers  
as she left.   
Gabriel looked up to see Krissie walking out the door.   
  
***  
  
"Phoenix!" Krissie called, she was standing by the grotto facing  
the mountains where the Phoenix was gathering strength.   
A ball of fire can rolling down from one of the peaks and Phoenix   
appeared in front of Krissie.  
"What do you want child?" she asked with anger in her voice.  
"You took me away from my home, my life!" Krissie started out  
softly then got louder. "I'm here to put you in your place!"  
"Really child." Phoenix stayed with her disapproving parent tone.  
"You and who else?"  
"Me."  
The elementalist turned around to see Gabriel standing on the  
crest of the hill.  
"What quarrel do you have with me?" Phoenix asked, looking down at  
him.  
"You took the thing that meant the world to me. You took my love  
away. " Tears streamed from Gabriel's eyes. Foolishly, he jumped at the  
Phoenix, who flew straight up. Gabriel fell to the ground, and the  
Phoenix came down on top of him. She pulled her knife and held it  
strongly to Gabriel's throut.  
"Do you want to die?" she asked.  
"Yes, for it would end my suffering and we will be together  
forever," Gabriel said.  
"Well, then." Phoenix slowly got off of him. "You shall just have  
to live with misery."  
Gabriel roared and pulled the battle axe he had been carrying at  
his belt. Phoenix simply moved aside and let him run past. Laughing she  
slashed the webbing of one of his wings in half. Gabriel just turned  
and charged again, this time the Phoenix just let him come. The axe and  
the Phoenix's met in a blast of sparks. The heat from the Phoenix  
spread through her knife in to the axe. Into Gabriel's hand. He roared  
and dropped his axe. There was a burn on his palm, it was the emblem of  
the Phoenix. Like the one the gate carried.  
"Enough!" Krissie yelled, and slapped the Phoenix across the face.  
"How dare you!" The Phoenix's eyes flared red as she forgot about   
Gabriel.  
"I challenge you, you old and weak washed up nobody," Krissie  
sneered. As she did, she clenched her fists and closed her eyes.   
Krissie folded her wings and floated about a foot off the ground. Her  
legs and tail melted into one and her skin turned a ghostly gray. She  
opened her eyes and they glowed a deep blue. Krissie had turned to her  
elemental form. This was going to be the final battle.   
Krissie only hoped that the sisters had finished the gate.   
  
* * *  
  
Krystiana dreamt as she slept.   
Even before the dream started, she knew what it was going to be.  
The future. She hadn't had a dream of the future since she had last  
visited. The night she had slept in the past, she had dreamt of what  
would happen that night, and she knew what to do.   
She could only hope it would help here.   
  
Her mind traveled outside her body, outside the building. She  
Krissie and the Phoenix. Krissie suddenly started floating and she  
seemed to turn into a fog. It was still her basic form, but...  
  
~I'm seeing the present,~ Krys thought. ~This is what is happening  
now.~  
The scene changed suddenly. She looked down. The entire ground had  
lightened. The Phoenix and Krissie were nowhere to be seen. Krys bent  
down to the ground and touched the soft sand. When she had come here  
earlier tonight, the island was close to dead. She could sense no life  
coming from the ground, the trees, or anything. Even a desert was alive  
all the time. But the Phoenix's attack had destroyed it.   
Now the island was alive again. Krys scooped up a handful of sand  
and let it run through her fingers.   
This was the future. Now if she could only figure out how to do  
it. Around her, the scene changed again. She saw the Gate looming in  
front of her. She reached out to touch it, and when her fingers brushed  
the emblem, it disappeared.   
Krys cried out in protest. She looked around, searching. But now  
she was no longer on Avalon.   
Or was she?  
Krys let out a cry of frustration. This dream made no sense at  
all. A cry of pain echoed her own. She turned around and saw...  
something...curled up. Krys gasped.   
"Phoenix," she whispered. She was INSIDE the Gate!  
She understood.   
The dream ended.   
  
* * *  
  
Brooklyn watched Krystiana with his blue eyes.   
As she slept, her expression changed. Apparently Krissie hadn't konked  
her out enough to keep her from dreaming. Krystiana suddenly opened her  
eyes. Brooklyn gasped silently. Her eyes weren't brown like her mother'  
and father's anymore. They were a honey-gold, and for a moment she  
almost looked like an elementalist, but they gave off a strange yelled  
glow.   
Krystiana moaned and closed her eyes, putting a hand to her head.  
She opened her eyes up again, and they were back to normal. She looked  
into the face of her father.  
"Dad?" Krystiana voice cracked. Brooklyn shook his head.  
Krys squinted at Brooklyn. "Oh," she said, letting her head rest  
back on the pillow. "Sorry."  
"It's okay," Brooklyn said. He suddenly wondered if he and Krissie  
would ever have a daughter or son.   
"I have a question that might sound stupid," Brooklyn said.  
Krystiana waved him on. "Why were your eyes a different color when you  
woke up?"  
"When I woke..." Krys suddenly started laughing. Brooklyn looked  
confused.   
"Sorry," Krys said. "It's not really that funny, I guess. But they  
do that whenever I dream..."  
Krys suddenly gasped and sat up straight, ignoring the pain that  
shot up her side. "Shock!" she swore. "Shock, shock, shock," she  
muttered as she got up off the cot.  
Brooklyn tried to push her back down. "Hold on. Where are you  
going?"  
"To save your girlfriend," Krys snarled. She slipped away from  
Brooklyn and walked over the Weird Sisters. She held out her hand.  
"Give me the Gate," she ordered.   
Tom looked up at her. "What?" The sisters looked at her as if she  
was mad.  
"Give me the shocking Gate!" she repeated with more force. "I know  
what to do."  
Luna almost reluctantly held the Gate out to her. It did not have  
the Phoenix emblem on it like the old had, but it had the same colors.  
Krys reached out and took it. "Thank you," she said more truthfully than  
anyone had ever spoken to them. Clutching the Gate, she ran out of the  
room.   
Brooklyn took only a moment to think, then ran after her.   
  
* * *  
Krissie floated over the ground, staring at the Phoenix.   
"This will end tonight," Krissie said. Her voice didn't sound as it  
should. It sounded like a ghost's, echoing, almost like a Child of  
Oberon.  
"Yes, it will," the Phoenix said mockingly.   
"Hold it, time out, cocoa!"   
Both Krissie and Phoenix looked and saw Krystiana. She was holding  
the Gate. Brooklyn ran up behind her. The one with the blue eyes.   
"Get out of here," Krissie hissed.  
Brooklyn pointed at Krys. "You told me to watch her, that's what  
I'm doing."   
Krystiana shook her head and took a step back, raising the Gate to  
her shoulder, looking like she was about to throw it like a frisbee.  
Which is exactly what she did. The Gate sailed right towards the  
Phoenix.  
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Brooklyn yelled.  
The Gate sailed through the Phoenix and she let out a hawk-like  
screech that filled the air. Krystiana rose her hand, and the Gate  
suddenly turned around and came back towards her and Brooklyn. Krys  
caught it in her hand and glared at Phoenix.   
The Phoenix fell to the ground. Krystiana turned to Krissie.   
  
* * *  
  
Krissie felt a crackle in her mind. She felt a presence in her  
mind, and she could scarcely believe who it was.   
*Krys, if that isn't you I'm gonna-* she thought.  
*Yeah, it's me.*  
*Krys, what have you done?*  
*Krissie, you need to do something. You're in the right form now.*  
*No shock.*  
*You need to go inside the Gate.*  
*That's the idea, but I don't know if it will follow me.*  
*The Phoenix will follow you there. You can get out faster than it  
now. It's slowed down now.*  
*What-*  
*Please. I can trap it from there.*  
*Krys, what if-*  
*Krissie, this is the only-*   
Krissie's mind was suddenly filled with images of war, blood, and  
pain. Phoenix had managed to crawl over to Krys and blast her with some  
form of magic.   
*Go.* Krystiana's mental voice shimmered and exited Krissie's  
mind. The images faded.   
Krissie's form flickered in decision. It was the only way.   
She concentrated and prepared to travel inside the Gate.   
Krissie stared at the Gate in Krys's hand. With on flap she flew  
towards it. In her mind's eye she saw the Gate, but it was different. It  
was a gate like before going into a house and it was made of fire.   
Krissie concentrated on the gate and then in her mind's eye it opened.  
Opening her eyes she saw the Gate right in front of her, then blackness.  
  
Krissie looked around but saw only shadows and faint twinkles of   
light. She felt herself float. She could feel currents running through  
this place some warm some cold. Some made her feel at home and some made  
the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. It was peaceful. She  
heard what sounded like the ocean, but she couldn't find the source.  
"When is this?" Krissie thought.  
"The end of time," the voice of the Phoenix said.   
Krissie looked and saw not a fiery bird, but a woman. She was  
young-looking but a master elementalist rarely age past thirty or so.   
She was tall with blond hair and honey golden eyes. She was wearing an  
reddish orange dress that flowed to the floor.  
"Thank you for taking my place here," she said and looked towards  
a firey gate. On the other side was a bright light, "I will enjoy this  
form again."  
"I don't understand," Krissie said.  
The Phoenix looked over her shoulder. "There is no time here, this  
is the void. When all is dead and turned to dust, this is what will  
remain."  
"But there isn't anything here," Krissie flew up to the Phoenix.   
"This is the void Krishana, paradox. A place where there is no  
time, there is no space, there is nothing but darkness." The Phoenix  
turned once more towards the light beyond the Gate.   
  
"No," Krissie said and landed in front of the Phoenix. "You are the  
source of this darkness. I hear the ocean I feel the currents. I can  
see beyond the shadows."  
"That is impossible!" The Phoenix yelled. "I have been stuck here  
for all time and all it is, is nothing!"  
The Phoenix took a step toward the light towards freedom. Krissie   
stood in front of her. "You are the controller of time. You must stay  
here."  
"I must?" the Phoenix roared. "Controlling time is a gift I don't  
want. Let me go in peace."   
"No," Krissie said simply.  
The Phoenix screamed and made a fist. Fire began to swirl around  
it, she pulled back and-  
Krissie's eye's flared purple. Her pendant glowed. Krissie pointed  
at the Phoenix and shot an orb of blackish-purple energy though her.  
With a scream of defeat the Phoenix sank to her knees and turned back  
into the fiery bird.   
Krissie turned and flew into the light.  
  
**************************************************************  
  
"Krissie." Krissie's mind wandered back to her as she awoke.  
"Kris, wake up."  
Slowly, Krissie opened her eyes and saw Brooklyn standing over  
her. She looked to the west and saw the lingering light of day sinking  
into darkness.  
"Man, did we spend the whole day here?" Krissie said rubbing her  
head and getting to her feet.   
"I guess so," Brooklyn said and flicked aside a bit of stone skin   
from the ground. "Goliath is gonna have my head on a plate if we don't  
get home soon."   
Krissie looked around. They were on the roof top. The one with  
the flower garden and the shed. Krissie remembered herself and Brooklyn  
out flying then-  
"Hey Kris," Brooklyn broke her train of thought, "You ok? you look  
a little pale. We should get back to the castle."  
"Yeah, I'm ok." Krissie said and watched her child jump of the  
edge. "Just had the strangest dream."   
  
* * *  
  
Epilogue  
  
Krystiana held the Gate in her hand and stared at it. The  
elementalist had did it.   
True, her father's other self wouldn't remember a thing due to the  
rip in the space-time continuum... (Krys grinned at the usage of the old  
century Star Trek), but Krissie was better trained, and she might  
remember.  
  
~Nah.~ Krystiana shook her head and turned around and walked  
inside. ~She couldn't remember.~   
"Could she?" Krys whispered out loud.   
"Could who what?" she turned and saw her mother and father's  
younger selves.   
"Nothing," Krys said quickly. She took a breath to steady herself.  
"Krissie and Brooklyn are back in their own dimension," she said  
crisply. "The Phoenix is back in it's rightful place." She held up the  
Gate. "Now I have to get home." She took out the Gate from her own time  
and held out the new one to her father.  
"Wait a moment, Krystiana." Krys turned and saw Oberon walking  
towards her. She stiffened.   
"You have just brought a great amount of responsibility on  
yourself," Oberon said.   
"What the shock are you talking about?" Krys snarled. She had  
never cared for Oberon.  
"You have just destined yourself to be the Keeper of the Gate,"  
Oberon said simply. "You are to make sure that what happened tonight  
will never happen again."  
"I intended to do that anyway," Krys growled. "While I'm at it, I  
may as well take the clan back to Manhattan."   
"Less trouble for me, I assure you," Oberon stated. He turned and  
walked stiffly away. Krys snarled at his back quietly.   
Brooklyn walked up to his to-be daughter. "Not now," he whispered.  
"You shouldn't mess with him."  
Krys looked blankly at Brooklyn. "Shock that."  
  
* * *  
  
Brooklyn watched the flame disappear as Krystiana returned to her  
own time. He turned to Demona.   
Demona looked at Brooklyn wistfully, thinking. "Brooklyn?"   
"I'm still here," Brooklyn stated in a joking manner.  
"I have something to tell you."   
"Do you?"   
"I love you."  
Brooklyn whipped around and stared at her.  
"I know...it's too early," Demona said. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't  
have brought it up."  
"No, it's not that," Brooklyn said, running a hand through his  
snow-white hair. "It's just that...I was thinking of just telling you  
the same thing."  
Demona gasped inwardly. "So...we're agreed?"  
"Why do you make everything so official?" Brooklyn laughed, and  
suddenly picked her up, like they were at a wedding. Demona smiled.   
"I like official," Demona said, resting her head on his chest.   
"Leave official for one moment," Brooklyn said, and simply kissed  
her. Demona's eyes sprung open, the she closed them and let herself sink  
into Brooklyn's arms.  
  
* * *  
  
"Would ya look at that?"  
"What?" Lex looked up from the TV. Broadway pointed out the  
window. "Wow," Lexington said, his mouth agape. "I've never seen Demona  
looked so...happy!" Broadway promptly jabbed Lex in his ribs.  
"Oww!"  
  
* * *  
  
Demona drew back from her new-found love with a look of pity on  
her face.   
"I...I can't stay. I've learned to forgive humans, now I must  
learn to forgive myself."  
"I'll go with-" Brooklyn started desperately.  
"No." Demona shook her head. "I have to do this alone." She turned  
and hopped up onto the parapets and took one last look at Brooklyn. She  
reached out and touched his cheek.  
"Goodbye, my love." She turned and glided off the castle, not  
letting Brooklyn say one word of protest. Brooklyn let out a silent cry  
of anguish. He had found love, then lost it in under five minutes. He  
looked up at her diminishing form.   
"Goodbye."  
  
  
END 


End file.
